Improvement in water-elevator



raising water in relays, by means"of;coinx UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-HATHERLY SPEAR, OF CAPE ELIZABETH, MAINE.

IM PROVEM NT IN WATER-ELEVATO R.

epecification forming part of Lettars Patent No. 103,518, dated May 24, 1870.

To. all whom t may cmwem:

Be it,kn own that "I, HATHERLY SPEAR, of Cape Elizabeth, in the county of Cumbe'rland and Stateot Maine, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Elevators by Compressed Air; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact:- deseripttmrthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon. which form n, partot' this specificatio.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arrangement of, a machinefor pressed air, to any height desired In order to enable others skillod in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, 1 will now proceed to describe j its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drz.\vin gs, which represent a perspecti ve v1ew of my machine. V A represents a reservoir, of any suitable dimen sius, made so as to withstand any amount of pressure it may be desired to submit it to.

This rcservoir is provided with any desircd number of holes through its bottom. These holes or openings radiate from. a. central vertical opening to the circumfereuce of the same. The central opening within the reservoir is provided with a-valve so constructed thatit will allow the water to pass in, but as soon as any extra pressure is brought to bear within the reservoir it will close and prevent the water from passing out through the same. The object of providing the reservoir,A with the holes in the bottom above mentioned is, thatby such an arrangement no mod or other sediment-can stop up the valve, which would Very likely often be the case if the reservoir rested,immediately on the bottom of the place "where it is intended to u's the samefor in-" stance, m mines for drainiu'gpurposes, which is the chief object for which I have designed my machine, although it may be used for a variety of other purposes. r

A tube, B, leads from near the bottom of the reservoir A upward through its top a Suitable height, and passes then through the bot tom of another reservoir. A. and to near the top of the same. Y

C js the tube through which the compressed or reservor to the reservoir A, where.it is admittcd on top ot the Water contained therein. When the water first-passes into thereservoir A, the force should, 'of course, be shut ofi', and any air-that may be in said reserv0ir will then ot through a leak-valve, a, iu the top ot the -reservoirk r This leakr valve is so constructed tlat a verysmallfip r M will open it and keep it open; but as eoon;ase stronger pressure is broughttobear it will close. Hence, the force being shut ofi' and water entering the reservoir, the leak-valve allows the air con- J;ained in the reservoirtopassout but as soon as the power'is adrttd through the c0nduit saidvalvecloscsg ,:t hecompressed air then forces the water through the tube B into the reservoir A.

When in use, the machine should be set so that the water around it will be up to the top of the reservoir A; but in case the water should rise above this point the leak-valve a would become inoperative. To obviate this difliculty I provide a tube of suitable height on top of said reservoir, Within which the leak va ve is placed, and operates in the same manner. The air that passes out through the leak-valve a is carried through tubes b b into another tube, E, and thence out where needed.

The water having, as above described, been forced up into the second reservoir, the air follows the water and forcesit up through similar 'tubes to the third, fourth, fifth, or as many reservoirs as may be required, until it reaehes the top, the air contiuuing to beadmitted into the lower cylinder from the power source, and passing from the same to and through all the intermediate*reservoirs until the supply of air is shut ofl, as will be presently described.

I have not demed it necessary to represent more than one intermediate reservoir, as they are aliconstructed in precsely the same manner and operate for the same purpose.

, The water, in passing up through the pipe B into the intermediate reservoir, A, expels any air that may be contained theren through the leak-valve a, said air passing through the pipe E. When this intermediate reservoir is filled water passes through similar tube, B, up intothe next reservoir, and so On1nto the last or top reservoir. This last reservoir, A, ls

air is conducted from the condensing engine also, for the same purpose as the others, prowith water and the compressed air follows, the

vided with a leak-valve, a, the air passing through the pipes binto the tube E.

When the water has been raised to the top reservoir and the compressed air commences to come into the same, a portion of the'air at once passes through the tube G and eloses a valve, d, in the p'owereonduit O, thus shutting off the supply of compressed air; or this valve V into the pipe b or E, and al] the air which, as

above set forth, is exhausted from the different reservoirs through the pipe E, may be used for ventila'ting the mine or for other purposes. As soon as the pressure of the air escaping through the pipe l becomes sufliciently red ucerl, a spring aeting upon the valve d opens the powencondnit, and lets the compressed air have free passage into the bottom reservoir, A, which in the meantime, while the power was shut ofi', has become full of water, as mentioned in the first part of this speoification.

'l hus it will be seen that I do not raise the water at once to the required height, but perform it by relays, using for that purpose the expan sive power of the air inthe lower reservoirs.

It would in many instanees be almost imposs'ible to condense air to a suficient density to raise waterfrom deep mines but by my method of relays it can be accomplished with very little trouble or expense. r

In the practical operations of this machine itwould perhaps be advisable to have more than one, as if one of them should by some .aecident get out of order, the other could be at once put in operation, and the work in the mine need not be stopped.

If it is deemed necessary, I may attac h another tube, J, to the bottom rescrvoir, A, for

the purpose. of exhausting the air therein.

This may or may not be used at pleasure.

. In very long relays it may be necessary between the reservoirs to have separate pipes or conduits for the air and the water, as a much smaller pipe o ly is needed for the air than for the water. n that case, however, the airpipe shouldnotextend as far down as the waterpipe in the lower reservoir; butin the reservoir above it should be higher than the waterpipe, for obvious reasons. In this case, however, the water-pipe will be provided with a valve closing With a downward pressure. v

I do not claim, broadly, the employment of relays, or a sneeession of receptaeles for water, when one is placed above the other, as it is known that suetion-pumps have been thus constrncted; but Y What I (lo claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A series of reservirs, receptaoles, or relays,

two witr1esses.

HATHERLY SPEAR. Witnesses:

O. ALEXANDER, J NO. A. ELLIS. 

